NATURAL BIODEGRADABLE ICE MELT ALTERNATIVE

2019, CINCINNATI, OH, UNITED STATES
Ice melt
Every year 66 million tons of salt are used worldwide to melt ice off of roadways for human use. This salt is contaminating waterways, groundwater, harming animals and aquatic life, and causing stress on flora and fauna. Thus, Sophia and Olivia Dick embarked on a journey to turn to find natural ingredients that would have the same effects as road salt, only with less impact on the environment.

The mixture that they came up with only contains alfalfa meal and used coffee grounds, which naturally lowers the freezing point off water while simultaneously providing traction just like salt. When winter is over, the mixture acts as a natural fertilizer for plants and grass as well. Sophia and Olivia were able to involve their community in creating their ice melt alternative, purchasing their alfalfa meal from a local feed shop and receiving coffee grounds for free from their local coffee shop.

To use their concoction, snow should be cleared off first before dispensing the melt using a kitchen strainer or cup. Sophia and Olivia set up booths throughout their community where they gave out bags of their natural ice melt for free. They made it clear that they intend their project to be used residentially, and if it goes well to potentially be used within their city’s roadways. To encourage their community to make their own ice melt when the original bag runs out, the “recipe” was attached – 3 parts alfalfa for every 2 parts of coffee grounds.

SAFE FISHING PRACTICES

2019, CINCINNATI, OH, UNITED STATES
Safe Fishing
Jack Williams, Evan Prater, and AJ Washienko hoped to use their love for fishing as a way to help their watershed. They brainstormed and thought of safer practices and equipment to use that would help to reduce the impact of fishing on the environment. The group searched for the best alternatives that would be environmentally friendly, and came across 3 products: biodegradable fishing line, tungsten weights and bronze hooks.

They decided to implement their hooks into a summer youth fishing program at Lake Isabella through Winton Woods. This would not only immediately reduce the impact due to the use of these products by many children, but more importantly, it would give us the opportunity to inform the next generation. The boys plan to give an informative talk and are in communication with Winton Woods. It is their hope that this program will be informative and influence the youth to think about the products they may choose to fish with someday.

SAVING SAINT CLARE STREAM

2019, CINCINNATI, OH, UNITED STATES
Stream
Abby Shores noticed a problem with a local stream in her community. The stream, which she calls St. Clare stream, runs through a three by one half block wooded area behind her house. It eventually connects to the Mill Creek. This area is owned by a local convent and includes a five-foot City of Wyoming easement. Unfortunately, it had been neglected due to its small size and isolated location. This lack of caring led it to be abused by illegal dumping, littering, and general misuse.

Abby created an immediate solution to turn the area from an abandoned dump to a community greenspace. She collaborated with local officials at the City of Wyoming to install a trash can on their portion of the property. This trash can not only prevented litter, but served as a symbol of her community and city’s commitment to the area. Because of her hard work the trash can has been put on the city’s weekly pickup route. She estimates the trash can will reduce litter by up to 56%.
Stream

The second part of her project was designing a cleanup day of the stream. This promoted community outreach and a greater unity among neighbors. She went door to door mobilizing volunteers and utilized social media to spread the word. During the cleanup day they removed almost 300lb of waste from the stream. This included everything from aluminum cans to iron construction beams. She hopes this cleanup day inspired others to hold events in the area. It showed how greater use of a space promotes long term environmental sustainability. Even though the stream is small, its revitalization served as an example to other municipalities.

(RAIN) BARRELS OF FUN

2019, CINCINNATI, OH, UNITED STATES

Julia Breckenridge, Sarah Slabe, Olivia Core, and Jenna Murdock decided to host a workshop for families in their school to educate them on rain barrels and how they impact the community. Our primary issue addressed in their workshop was the lack of knowledge in their school community about runoff and a potential solution – rain barrels. In the suburban areas that they live in, runoff is a large issue due to impermeable surfaces such as roads, building roofs, and blacktop and is visible to anyone after it rains as it can cause urban flooding and back-up of the sewers.
Barrel

They held a two hour rain barrel workshop on April 9th at their school in which over 50 people attended. During the workshop, they invited three professionals to come speak on the runoff issues the city has and different solutions homeowners can implement, such as rain barrels. They taught participants how to construct a rain barrel properly and reminded them of the positive impact they are making on the environment. Ten families were able to actually take home a rain barrel and all the supplies necessary to assemble and connect it to their gutter.

This project started out as a relatively small-scale project, focusing only on the ten families that sign up for the workshop. However, over 50 people ended up attending (only ten families were able to take home a rain barrel). Therefore, not only did our project help our school community by being more aware about the issues occurring in our watershed, but it also helped each of the communities that the ten families live in. By informing the student body and families of the environmental issue of run off, more residents in the Mill Creek watershed will be aware and act to help improve this problem.

Pilot Mound Rain Gardens

2019, Pilot Mound, Manitoba, Canada

Colin Hildebrand, Joryn Buchanan, Donovan Kimball, and Riley Kimball are all students at Pilot Mound Collegiate in Pilot Mound, MB. When they were posed with the question of what they could do to improve their watershed, their thoughts took them outside to their schoolyard.

“Our problem lies in the excess water that our school ground produces and contends with… So how do we help manage excess water and potential pollutants?”

In speaking with the school’s custodian, they were able to see where drainage water flowed, accumulated, and moved across the school property. They realized that this runoff water could be picking up contaminants and sending them into local waterways and could also be contributing to flooding issues in their area. They approached their local conservation district (CD), the Pembina Valley CD, to discuss ways to mitigate these issues. Together, they came up with the idea of rain gardens along the natural swale running through the school yard to filter runoff, increase water infiltration, and reduce pollutants entering nearby waterways.

“We [will] create three rain gardens [along the existing swale]… The rain gardens will slow the water using berms, and the native plants will create more infiltration into the soil due to their large root systems.”

Cache In, Trash Out

2019, Beausejour, Manitoba, Canada

Mason Cameron and Tia Erickson are students at École Edward Schreyer in Beausejour, MB. Their plan to help their watershed was a “Cache In, Trash Out” event. They were able to spread awareness for their event within the geocaching community, and the turnout was great! One of the community members who attended the event said,

“We are so glad we made it to this incredibly well-organized event. The games were really fun!”

By using entertainment and a unique method of education delivery, people were able to enjoy learning about their watershed, cleaning their community, and other things that they can do to help every day!

Biodegradable Sunscreen

2019, Shoal Lake, Manitoba, Canada

Manitoba Biodegradable Sunscreen Implementation

Bailey Ostash and Nadia Nickel are students at Shoal Lake School in Shoal Lake, Manitoba. Living in the Lake Winnipeg Watershed, they became worried about the algal blooms appearing on lakes in the area.

“On a hot sunny day, you are going to the beach. What’s one of the first things you do? Most people, as soon as they get to the beach, put on sunscreen. Then, they go into the water… One of our main concerns is that sunscreen [can be] full of many harmful chemicals that harm our watershed.”

Their solution was to create their own homemade, natural, biodegradable sunscreen. They will educate students in their school and people in their community on ways that they can reduce their impacts on their watershed with simple solutions like eco-friendly sunscreen. They plan to set up at local farmer’s markets and craft shows to spread their message and their product.

“It has been such a rewarding project. [Bailey & Nadia have] inspired me to learn more and get more involved with other groups and activities.” – Benita Shwaluk, Teacher, Shoal Lake School

Cigarette Butt Disposal

2019, The Pas, Manitoba, Canada

Margaret Barbour Collegiate students Blaze Head & Christian Tilling wanted to make their school yard a cleaner place. They looked at the trash on the school property and noticed that, much like many places, the majority of the trash was comprised of cigarette butts. They decided they wanted to do something about it, so they came up with a plan to reduce the amount of cigarette butt waste they were seeing by having a disposal container installed.

“This project will help our environment by reducing the cigarettes and chemicals going into our watershed and contaminating our rivers and ground water.”

OILaway

2019, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

Nicholas Kiesman from West Kildonan Collegiate in Winnipeg, Manitoba noticed that there was a lack of awareness in how everyday products such as used motor oil should be safely disposed of. He reached out to a local oil change facility to see what he could do to help.

OILaway student action Manitoba He partnered with his local Great Canadian Oil Change to put on an event so that people could bring in their used oil and other household products for proper and environmentally safe disposal. He was able to educate community members about disposing of these products any time at drop-off sites such as the Great Canadian Oil Change that he hosted his event at.

“We [will] be able to educate the community on how to properly dispose of used motor oil, and explain to them why taking care of our watershed is so important. While doing this, we have the ability of making sure that the hazardous substances in used oil are not unloaded carelessly into our environment by those who think it’s not a big deal. Because honestly, it is. It’s time that careless thinking stops. It’s time to inspire the community and take action.”

Boyne River Cirriculum

2019, Carman, Manitoba, Canada

Hannah Petrie was a high school student at Carman Collegiate in Carman, Manitoba. She has always had a passion for education, so when she was thinking about ways she could improve her watershed, of course teachers came to mind. What better way to spread the word about healthy watersheds than giving the resources to those who teach our youth!

Hannah held a Professional Development day for teachers within the Boyne River Watershed to learn how to properly educate their students on their watershed and what they can do to keep it healthy.

“In the end, helping someone understand how they can positively affect the environment is a challenge, but can have personal, as well as global impacts. I believe teaching the young students will promote a lifestyle that contributes to a healthy environment, since they are the future.”